THE TWO KOREAS AGREE TO DEVELOP RESORT IN NORTH

By SUSAN CHIRA, Special to the New York Times

Published: February 2, 1989

SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 1—
North and South Korea have agreed in principle to a joint business project, the first such agreement in 43 years of unremitting hostility between the two nations.

The honorary chairman of the giant Hyundai conglomerate, Chung Ju Yung, told reporters in Japan this evening that he signed an agreement today in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, with Choe Su Gil, president of the Taesong Bank of North Korea. The two agreed in principle to jointly develop the area around Mount Kumgang, on the eastern coast of North Korea, as a tourist site.

South Koreans are not allowed now to travel freely to the North, but the press here speculated that South Korean, Japanese and other foreign tourists might eventually visit the site. Seoul's Policy Reversal

It is by no means clear whether the joint project, if it is ever completed, would lead to expanded political ties. But the discussions could not have begun without approval from both Governments.

Because the two countries have no relations and are still technically at war, the project is being handled as a deal between two businessmen, not as a Government-to-Government venture.

The move comes as South Korea embarks on a dramatic policy reversal, aggressively wooing North Korea and Communist nations. Today, as expected, South Korea and Hungary established full diplomatic relations, the first formal ties with a Communist country since South Korea was created as a separate nation in 1948. Mixed Signals From the North

While South Korean overtures to Communist nations are yielding expanding economic ties with the Soviet Union, China and other allies of North Korea, Seoul's efforts to improve relations with North Korea have met with contradictory responses.

Legislators from both sides have been meeting sporadically since August, but have so far failed to agree on terms for a joint parliamentary meeting. Government officials from the North and South are to confer next Wednesday to discuss terms for a meeting of the Prime Ministers of the two nations.

South Korean newspapers carry reports almost daily that South Korean businesses plan to import North Korean goods or are involved in discussions outside South Korea with North Korean businessmen, now that the Government has lifted a ban on trade with North Korea. Today the first shipment of North Korean coal arrived in the South. South Seeks Assurances

But Western diplomats here, as well as South Korean Government officials, say that North Korea is sending mixed signals about easing economic and political tensions.

At various points in the continuing legislative talks, North Korea has demanded that the South cancel joint military excercises with the United States as a condition for any agreements. The South Korean Defense Minister, Lee Sang Hoon, said in a television interview tonight that the South would show ''flexibility'' about the size of the exercise.

In an interview earlier today before the project became known, Hong Soon Young, South Korea's Assistant Foreign Minister for Economic Relations, played down the possibility of North-South ventures, saying North Korea would have to offer the South some assurances that businessmen could take profits out of the country and pledge some protection to South Korean workers while in the North.

Mr. Chung, the Hyundai official, did not say whether he had received any such guarantees from North Korea.

''North Korea seems to be oscillating between appreciation of this reality and the rigidity of its ideological doctrine,'' Mr. Hong said. The North has invited business leaders to Pyongyang and denounced as fabrications South Korean press reports about trade or venture plans. Trade With Communist Countries

Mr. Hong said, however, that the North might allow some project it could portray as a purely private venture without implying recognition of or coexistence with South Korea.

Mr. Chung, the first South Korean business leader to receive his Government's blessing to visit Pyongyang, flew to Osaka, Japan, tonight on his way home after a 10-day stay.

He told reporters that businessmen from both countries were interested in building hotels in the Mount Kumgang area, near Tongchon, his hometown, and had agreed on a way of obtaining funds. The development could include a beach resort in nearby Wonsan. The area is renowned in Korea for its scenic beauty.

North Korea has been trying to expand tourism as one source of scarce foreign currency. Mr. Chung, who is 74 years old, said that he had also proposed joint venture projects and that the North had agreed to the idea.

When President Roh Tae Woo of South Korea announced his overtures to Communist countries last summer, he said he hoped that Communist allies of the North would help the South inch toward closer ties with its longtime enemy.

Seoul's trade with Communist nations is expanding rapidly. Trade with the Soviet Union in 1987 was about $150 million. China's direct and indirect trade last year with South Korea is estimated from $2 billion to $4 billion. North Korea's entire trade volume, according to South Korean estimates, totals $3 billion.